MUSINGS AND QUICK HITS: JULY 2, 2018
1) The signing of unrestricted free agent left winger James van Riemsdyk was the Flyers only move on the first day of unrestricted agency. The team also saw three of their own unrestricted free agents sign elsewhere: Valtteri Filppula (New York Islanders), Brandon Mannning (Chicago Blackhawks) and Petr Mrazek (Carolina Hurricanes). The Flyers did not attempt to re-sign any of the three players. Matt Read, who will also not be back, remains unsigned.
2) Flyers general manager Ron Hextall indicated on Monday that, while he felt there were a few immediate upgrades available among defensemen and bottom-six forwards on the free agent market, he was not interested in going long-term on a contract with any of them. On the blueline, Hextall said he didn't want to block the continued promotion of young defensemen from within the farm system.
"Long-term", presumably, means anything more than two seasons. For example, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed Riley Nash to a three-year contract at a $2.75 million cap hit. The Flyers almost certainly would have been comfortable absorbing an equivalent cap hit on Nash or a similar player but the third year on the deal was a little too much term for the GM's liking. Likewise, the Flyers appear to be out of the running for still-unsigned UFA defenseman Calvin de Haan due to the term he will get with whomever he signs.
3) Hextall admitted that he would still like to address the penalty kill and blueline depth with the addition of a player, whether it is via waiting for bargains to emerge on the remaining UFA market (after the opening seller's market frenzy, the tide turns to a buyer's market as unsigned players get nervous about finding a new deal), via trade or via internal promotion.
The GM paid lip service to potentially filling the vacant third-line center spot internally, saying there were several viable options. He reiterated that Morgan Frost would need to add considerably more muscle by September for Hextall to deem him potentially NHL-ready. He was also noncommittal about the chances of Mikhail Vorobyev to be promoted from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms to start the 2018-19 season.
Among veteran internal possibilities, the default 3C candidates right now are Scott Laughton and Jori Lehterä. On Monday, Hextall floated the idea that Jordan Weal (who played center for most of his pre-NHL career but has mostly played wing in the NHL) could move to the middle if needed. He also mentioned Claude Giroux being shifted back from left wing to center as an option.
No, I do not believe that Giroux will imminently move back to center, nor do the Flyers consider Weal a viable 3C option. I do expect a move of some sort to try to upgrade the bottom six, with the preference being a third-line center over a winger.
If the regular season started tomorrow, unless a player such as Nicolas Aube-Kubel or Mike Vecchione wins a job out of camp, the Flyers projected lines currently look something like this:
Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk - Nolan Patrick - Jakub Voracek
Oskar Lindblom - Scott Laughton -Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl - Jori Lehterä - Jordan Weal/ Dale Weise/ Taylor Leier
Ivan Provorov - Shayne Gostisbehere
Robert Hägg - Andrew MacDonald
Travis Sanheim - Radko Gudas
Brian Elliott / Michal Neuvirth
4) As expected, Hextall said that the JVR signing has no bearing on the status of Wayne Simmonds. The indications I got from contacts in and close to the organization was that the organization's Plan A was not -- and is still not -- to trade the player, and the preference is to try to come to an extension agreement with Simmonds' agent, Eustace King.
I was told that, if need be, Hextall is comfortable going into next season with Simmonds unsigned 2018-19 and then trying to get a deal done prior to the start of free agency next year. If it becomes clear that no agreement is likely to be reached, the Flyers will adjust accordingly.
That said, Simmonds could still fetch some value in a trade right up until next season's trade deadline but that leverage decreases the closer and closer they get to the deadline. Also, assuming the Flyers are once again in the thick of the playoff chase as the stretch drive approaches, they would be less likely to want to be sellers. Of course, having a healthy and productive Simmonds would go a long way toward ensuring that status -- especially in combination with the JVR addition -- and increase the likelihood of an extension before then unless King and Simmonds are insistent on an extension term north of what JVR got.
5) Another issue if the Flyers end up in seller mode on Simmonds next season: If JVR takes over the netfront role on the first power play unit, Simmonds' goal totals may continue to decline (especially if it takes him a few months to fully recover from his surgery to repair a pelvic tear). Theoretically, that may also lower trade value if his goal production trends downward again. However, I believe that most teams understand his full value.
Simmonds himself is a team guy through and through. He cares nothing for personal stats -- not just as a platitude to utter but in fact -- and will take on any role that is asked from him if it helps the team win. Additionally, in considering the internal locker room dynamics (Hextall is big on intangibles), there is no obvious candidate to take on his role.
A hockey locker room is much like any workplace. There are human dynamics involved in creating a unified environment.
On the Flyers, Simmonds is the one -- and it usually takes a prominent player on the roster to do this -- who turns into the "bad cop" when necessary by getting all over someone who isn't pulling his weight. He is also the first guy to come to every teammate's defense, whether on or off the ice. Team captain Giroux is more the good-cop type.
With the departure of part-time alternate captain Filppula, a calming and cerebral presence and voice of experience, there is a strong possibility that veteran defenseman Andrew MacDonald goes from sharing the second "A" with another vet and having the designation full-time. This is up to the players themselves to determine and vote upon, but it's a rather obvious course of action.
Removing Simmonds from the mix, however, would severely change the leadership dynamic within the room. Say what you will about the Flyers inconsistency and streakiness -- it is a fair criticism -- but they have also been a resilient bunch when faced with adversity. Simmonds is one of the main guys who makes sure than no one feels sorry for themselves, and he backs it up by playing through damn near any degree of pain and never getting caught up in whether he's scored five goals in the last six games or one in the last 12.
Such players are not as easy to find as one might think, especially when they have been as productive overall as Simmonds has during his years in Philadelphia. Building a team isn't just about rolling out the most guys with the highest projected offensive stats and/or puck possession numbers out there.
There's an entire puzzle to put together, on the ice and in terms of internal dynamics. If the things that Simmonds brings beyond goals are taken out, others will have to be brought in to supply those elements on top of replacing his mid-20s-to-low-30s goals. It isn't easy to do, and that's why nothing should be rushed into in deciding what to do with Simmonds.
5) At his exit day press conference in April, Hextall admitted that the health question marks surrounding his veteran goalie tandem was a concern in planning for next season.
At this point, however, Hextall appears to less inclined to immediately seek an alternative veteran option in goal. He appears to be in wait-and-see mode based on what happens in the months to come with Elliott and Neuvirth's respective offseason rehabs and health during training camp. There is also the option of promoting Alex Lyon to the NHL roster in a backup capacity.
Are these question marks likely to linger into the season, especially given Neuvirth's extensive injury history? That is quite possible. Realistically, it is still a concern.
5) All in all, I do not think the Flyers will stand pat the rest of the summer in shaping the veteran portion of the roster. Specifically what comes next, I don't know.
6) Hall of Fame goaltender and lifelong boating and fishing enthusiast Bernie Parent is hosting a fundraising in-shore fishing tournament at the Canyon Club on July 20. All proceeds benefit Snider Hockey. This morning, Bernie will be a guest on the Preston and Steve Show on WMMR to discuss the tournament. For more information,
click here.
7) Also for the benefit of Snider Hockey, Bernie Parent and 18 other Flyers Alumni -- including Bob Clarke, Danny Briere, Brad Marsh, Brian Propp, Chris Therien and many more -- will be taking part in the 2018 Toyota Flyers Charity Classic on July 15. For more information on how to walk, run or ride alongside many of your favorite Flyers Alumni and then hang out with them afterwards for an afterparty featuring a live show by Chico's Vibe,
click here.
8) On the next edition of the Real Deal Hockey podcast with Bundy and Bill, Chris Therien and I will have a very special guest on the show. We'll keep it surprise for now.
9) Tuesday is the final day of the Flyers 2018 Development Camp and will feature the annual 3-on-3 half-ice tournament to close out camp. For rosters, rules and the schedule,
click here.
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Courtesy of the Flyers, here are the transcripts of James van Riemsdyk and Ron Hextall's media availability on Monday.
JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK
When you’re going through that courting process, I guess you have a little bit more information on the Flyers having been here before than the other teams. Did that play into at all? Or did you have it in your mind that you wanted to come back?
Definitely. I think there was a sense of that comfortability and knowing what the organization is all about. Even just remembering my time previously is just how bad they want to win and they’re willing to put resources into that. Again, that passion and that commitment to that was a big thing for me.
Growing up, you were a big Ranger fan. Were they one of the teams that talked to you and how close were you to going there?
There were a couple different teams in the mix. I’d rather not get into all of that. I’m happy now to be coming to Philadelphia and I think again it’s going to be a great fit and I’m really excited to get started.
Do you think there’s a sense here of a little bit of unfinished business that you were here 3 years or so but you probably were a little disappointed to get traded that quickly. Do you get a sense now at another opportunity to endear yourself to hockey fans here?
Yes. Again it is certainly an eye opening experience the first time you go through something like that, getting traded. A little naive to the sense where you think it’s gonna all be roses and thinking you’re going to be in one place your whole career and hopefully win championships. There’s definitely a sense of that in wanting to come back and be a part of the group that’s there and hopefully do great things with that.
James, what is different about yourself now and when you were traded? Are you a better player now than you were then?
I think I’ve gotten some more experience. I think for me I got a big opportunity to expand my role in Toronto. It was just a different situation with the team when I got in there. I got a chance to do some different things. Playing more of a prominent role on a power play. Play some more minutes and stuff like that. I think I’ve been able to expand my game in that way which has been great. Again, overall style wise I think I’m still very similar. I’m still a cerebral type of player who can skate well, have good offense instincts and can make the smart plays in all three zones. I think that’s always been my forte as a player. I picked up those different experiences along the way, to be a more consistent version of that. The more you play the more you learn about the league and the more you learn about you need to do to be successful. You definitely find things over the years that are good recipes to help you be a good player.
Did any of your old teammates from your first go round at Philadelphia put on the full court press to get you here?
Yeah, and it was good. I heard from G and I talked to Jake Voracek, as well. I did my homework in the situation to talk to guys that were still there, some guys that maybe are not there anymore but that were there recently, just to get a feel of where things are at. I have the comfortability with knowing a lot about the organization having played there in the past and having a lot of familiar faces still on the staff. That sense of comfortability is definitely there.
Just to be clear, you talked to G and Voracek before you signed, right?
Yeah, before I signed. I talked to both those guys and just picked their brain about some stuff. They were great about being open and available to help me through my process of getting to the point to make a decision. That was really helpful.
How long a period of time was that, that you had the Flyers on your radar, vice versus?
Well, you don’t really know what to expect when going into the process. This unrestricted free agency can be chaotic and hectic. The Flyers reached out very early on and were very interested and I had the same mutual interest. It came down to the point where it just felt like the best decision for me.
You think you progressed as a two-way player throughout your 6 years up there?
Definitely. I think my whole game is definitely expanded. There’s different things that you want to do to be a reliable player. Whether that’s managing the puck well and knowing the different situations to try to make a play depending on the time of the game and the score of the game. Or being reliable about getting the pucks out on the wall in your own end as a winger. Stuff like that as you get more experience to do not only those plays but execute them well and hopefully be able to do stuff like that to make sure you’re playing offense well. The key to defense is making sure you get the puck back as quickly and effectively as possible.
Can you tell us what your most memorable moment was with the Flyers the first time?
Wow. There’s a couple that stick out. Obviously stuff like your first NHL game, first NHL goal but I think for me, and this is the stuff I said to buddies that I grew up with and different family members have mentioned this, is that playoff run my first year there. Just how special that was and how jacked the city was. Hopefully again we get a chance to do something like that in the future here.
How do you think Tavares is going to do in Toronto?
It’s an exciting thing for him to go somewhere, obviously he’s a Toronto guy. Coming home for that I’m sure is an exciting thing for him and probably a little bit of a culture shock, with more of the day to day stuff with the hockey craziness that it can be up there compared to other places. But he’s got a good head on his shoulders and he’s a great player so good for him.
RON HEXTALL
[Is the team deep enough at center?]
We’ve got options there. With Coots and Patty, we feel pretty comfortable. Beyond that, we’ll have to figure out what our best option is, whether something comes our way between now and then, or if we use somebody in house. We weren’t going to go looking for another player that’s a sideways move from someone in the organization.
Are you looking for a center?
I don’t believe so. The term, we just weren’t willing to go the type of term. We had a guy that we were in on and he’s gone elsewhere, so that’s pretty much where we’re at. We’re not willing to commit on term for someone who is maybe not an upgrade from the guys we have in-house.
Does this signing change the situation with Wayne Simmonds?
This doesn’t change anything with Wayne, no.
What made now a good time to go for a player like JVR?
Whenever you can make your team better, you want to make your team better. The term we can live with; we can manage our way around the salary cap. We’ve looked up down and all around at different projections for the next few years, and we felt comfortable with the term and the player. We know the person, people inside this organization. Obviously it helps.
Are you still trying to upgrade the defense?
The guys that we felt were upgrades right now, there was too much term for us. We’re not willing to commit long term to a [UFA] defenseman. We’ll continue to look at what’s out there, whether it be through trades or free agents, and try to bring in if nothing else, a depth [defenseman].
JVR was here fairly briefly the first time… does he have unfinished business?
I think you’re better to ask him that. The one thing we felt really comfortable with is James was drafted as a Flyer. Whenever you’re drafting someone, you do have a little bit more at stake there. Again, we felt with the fit, we needed some size, we needed goal scoring, we needed a left winger. This one just fit all around for us, and I think James felt the same way.
Does this show you’re all-in to be a Stanley Cup contender right now?
Our philosophy four years ago was more to get our cap in order and gather young assets, and we’ve kind of been through that process now. It’s coming to fruition in terms of guys we have on our team, and when we can add somewhere [from outside] to strengthen our team, we want to do it and we’ll continue to try and do it.
Will JVR play netfront on the power play?
I don’t know what’s going to happen there. Hak, we’ve talked long and hard about it. We know James is very good at netfront. He’s got great hands, he’s got good size. We feel like with this addition on our power play, we can put out two really good units. It gives us another left shot, which we needed. We’ve got [Patrick] we’ve got Konecny, we’ve got the two young defensemen on the back end. So where everybody winds up, I don’t know. That’s one of those things you try in training camp, and there’s a chemistry thing there. I don’t know where that’s going to shake out, but we feel pretty comfortable that our power play has taken a step here.
Are you still looking to add a veteran defenseman?
There’s a couple guys off the [UFA] board before it even started which is very typical. As you start reaching out, term starts to be talked about, but we weren’t comfortable going there. As of right now, the one thing we don’t want to do is box our kids out that we feel are pretty good players long term here. The term thing is a big issue for us right now. We’re sort of waiting now, so we’re not going to bite into a long term deal with a defenseman. Whether something’s going to come around, I don’t know. We’ll try to continue to get better at every position.
Did you try to re-sign Brandon Manning?
No. We felt we like our kids. If we’ve got to push our kids a little bit, we’ll do that. If we can find something better in the meantime, we’ll do that. But again we weren’t willing to reach out long-term. But Brandon Manning was a good player for us, he was an absolute warrior and a character guy, and I was actually very happy to see him sign a two-year deal in Chicago.
Will you re-sign Filppula?
We’re going to move on. We looked long and hard at what we had within, our guys in the minors, our guys with the big team that can be moved around. We’ve got two or three options there. We’re excited about this addition here. It fills a hole that we felt needed to be filled in terms of size and goal scoring. It gives us more flexibility within our top nine and top 12.
Who are the kids that can make the roster?
I think everyone knows Travis Sanheim and Phil Myres are kids that hopefully aren’t too far away. I don’t want to sign a guy to a five year deal and all of a sudden we’re looking at him, what are we going to do with him now? If we have to, we’ll go into training camp, whether we sign an NHL defenseman, short term, tryouts… we'll see. There’s lots of options out there that we’ll look at between now and training camp, and get a better feel in September. But if the right player is there on a short-term deal, we’ll take a long, hard look at it.
[UFA] centers?
We’ll continue to look what’s around, whether it’s the market or trades. Sometimes in the market guys are looking for 3-4-5-year deals and then all of a sudden in mid-July they’re happy to get one. So we’ll continue to look and see if there’s a fit there for us, but I feel pretty comfortable from within that we can fill that, certainly as good as players on the market right now on the market that we’ll have to commit term to.
Who is in-house you can use at center?
Obviously G can move to the middle, Jordan Weal, Scotty Laughton.
Is Mikhail Vorobyev ready to take that step?
We’ll see. He’s looked good at development camp. Not evaluating here, but he’s a good player. We’ll see as we go along. But I like our internal options better than committing to a term deal on a player.
Morgan Frost?
We’ll see. He’s got work to do. He’s got to get a lot stronger, and he knows that. We’ll see.
How much did Frost progress from last year?
It’s hard for me to… progress DURING the season? Absolutely. He had a terrific year. Played for a top team and went far in the playoffs. I think he learned a lot about pushing through in the playoffs and going through a couple months of playoff hockey, which is a lot for a young person. He’s certainly stronger than he was a year ago. He’s got a couple months here, but he’s certainly got some [muscle-adding] work to do.
Isaac Ratcliffe's progress?
We don’t evaluate here. But based on last season, he progressed probably like we hoped. He’s gotten quite a bit stronger. He’s a big guy with really good hands. We’re standing out there yesterday going a guy that big shouldn’t have that good hands, he’s got good hands. He moves really well for his size and his age. You look at a 19-year-old kid who’s as talk as he is and as coordinated as he is, it’s not the norm. We’re excited about the prospects for him.
Has Matthew Strome's skating improved?
He’s made some strides. He had a real good year. Skating is always going to be something he has to work at, and the kid absolutely works his tail off. So he made some progress for sure.
[On improving the penalty kill]
I don’t have the answer for you right now. I’d certainly like to address it with a player. Not sure the right player/term will be out there. But we’ll continue to monitor, and if we can make a trade of some kind that helps us, we’ll look at within. We’ll continue to try to upgrade there; if not, we’ll have to do it from within, and if we have to, we will.
What is Simmonds contract negotiation status?
We’ll talk. Where the talks go, I have no idea. We’ll talk to Simmer’s reps in the next little while here and we’ll see where it goes. If it has to go into next year, we’re comfortable with that. But until we talk, and seriously talk, I don’t have anything there. We like Wayne Simmonds here. This doesn’t change anything for Wayne. This is a left-winger; this is a different player than Simmer. We’re excited to have James, and certainly we would like to have Simmer for a long time, too.
Can Simmonds play on a lower line?
Yeah. He can play every way. He’s netfront on the power play, he’s a physical player, forechecker, straight-line, go to the net with your stick on the ice guy. Simmer can play up top or certainly down your lineup, yes.
Did you see anything from last season’s group that you were ready to take a step towards contention by adding JVR?
We’ve always wanted to get better. We’ve had some cap squeezes that we kind of had to get through, and we’re not squeezed right now. We did not want to get into a seven or eight year deal unless it was really the right player. We felt like a four or five year deal ([for JVR], we could manage. It had to be the right player, too. We had four or five forwards pegged and that was it, that was our line. We weren’t going past that. We weren’t signing someone similar to what we have. We got one of those guys, so we feel fortunate.
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